Police driving permits..The facts

[Streetcop]

As I posted in a recent thread, below is some information which I'm sure will be of interest to you...

Generally there are 4 types of police permit.

1) Basic: Allows an officer (generally support officer, probationer) to drive a police owned vehicle. Should the vehicle have blue lights, these will only be able to be activated whilst stationary, ie: at scene of accident. This permit doesn't authorise the driver to exceed the speed limit whatsover.

2) Standard: This is a driving course between 2 weeks and 4 weeks which covers more advanced vehicle handling, including 'high speed', skid pan, etc etc. The officer will then be able to exceed the speed limit in the event of resonding to an emergency. Contravene red lights etc etc. The bhp of the police vehilce is limited for these drivers.

3) Response/Advanced: This is 3/4 week course where the driver has already passed the standard course and has been driving police vehicle for several years. This course is more indepth and the bhp of the police vehicle in training is higher. It also covers pursuits were the 'target' vehicle is simply followed, ie: no containment or tactical deployment is trained.

4) Class1, TPAC. This is a 4-6 week course (sometimes longer) where the driver is an experienced police officer and either Standard or Response/Advanced already. The course covers all aspects of vehicle handling, manoevers, etc etc. The vehicles are the top notch Vovlo T5, S60, BMW etc. TPAC is tactical pursuit and containment. This is the higher level of police pursuits, the 'boxing' in of target vehicles, tactical contacts, Stinger or HOSTYDS deployments etc.

All police driving permits carry independant points, separate to the civilian driving licence. For example, if an officer collides with a kerb and damages the police vehicle, points will be added to his police permit. If these reach a certain level, he will be sent for refresher training or even the risk of his police permit being withdrawn.

In addition, refresher courses are carried out on a regular basis and these are pass/fail courses. Just because an officer has achieved a certain standard, doesn't mean that will be allowed to slip. If he/she no longer makes the mark, the privelige will be removed.

Street


>>> Edited by Streetcop on Monday 16th August 12:45

[jj.]

I’ve always wondered what the traffic or class 1 drivers do all day… Are you allowed to just drive where/when you want, pulling anything that looks suspect, until you get ‘a call’. I.e do you get complete freedom, within your area to do basically, what you want…?

Or do you have a planned route that you have to drive, on a daily/weekly basis…?
jj

[turbobloke]

Also, is the Police Class 1 status still alive and well or has it fallen foul of spending cuts? There's well documented data that polac rates per mvkm or whatever vary with the quality of training, basically the extent of training as it's usually high quality. Those with the government's ear (Gifford / PACTS, Brunstrom et al) who say that training just lets road users kill themselves in a more skilled way, should take note. Big respect due for Plod Class 1, anybody who's been out with them on training drives etccan't fail to see the benefits of training. Whenever I pass a speed camera, curiously my driving skills fail to improve, shurely shome mishtake

[Don]

Very informative. Thanks.

[cptsideways]

jj. said:

I’ve always wondered what the traffic or class 1 drivers do all day… Are you allowed to just drive where/when you want, pulling anything that looks suspect, until you get ‘a call’. I.e do you get complete freedom, within your area to do basically, what you want…? Or do you have a planned route that you have to drive, on a daily/weekly basis…? jj

The Trafpol chap I know suggests that the first paragraph is true.

[Dibble]

jj. said:

I’ve always wondered what the traffic or class 1 drivers do all day… Are you allowed to just drive where/when you want, pulling anything that looks suspect, until you get ‘a call’. I.e do you get complete freedom, within your area to do basically, what you want…?

It depends what shift we're working, and whether or not the Donut Shop or Kebab House is open...

In my area, we have "targetted patrol", where we are directed to areas of (for example) high autocrime. We deal with accidents, and this often involves a lot of follow up paperwork. Unfortunately, due to lack of numbers, there is often very little time for the luxury of stopping vehicles that need stopping.

jj said:

Or do you have a planned route that you have to drive, on a daily/weekly basis…? jj

We have a "patrol plan". This includes what are known as "loop routes"; these are the main roads that most commuters use at rush hours. We're supposed to do high visibility patrol on these routes to act as a deterrent, and deal with whatever we come across. We also respond to the radio - but not just traffic; domestics, shoplifters, street robberies, burglars, alarm calls...

[Dibble]

PS That'll be a level 4 for me from Street's list then. Plus a bit of motorway thrown in for extra measure...

[Nightmare]

Ah - so you have to acheive that sort of level before you can do that sort of damage to a marked car eh Dibble?!

[Dibble]

It takes a special sort...

All I can say at the moment is it's still sub judice, but when the matter's finalised, I'll post the full facts, and let my fellow PHers draw their own conclusions.

[cptsideways]

Do you think the particular choice of the Level 3 car is a deterrant on the behalf of Brumstom to stop bobbies becoming trafpols & top keep them deskbound checking automated speeding tickets instead?

[Nightmare]

Dibble said:

It takes a special sort...

I really can't wait to here the end of this tale

cptsideways...most amazing thing about the Ford Scorpio has got to be the fact that at some point somewhere in a big, highly expensive office...a load of people paid a lot of money to make important decisions actually said "that's the one - it looks great' - they MUST have done at some point or it would never have arrived. And thats amazing if you ask me!

[kevinday]

Dibble said:

[In my area, we have "targetted patrol", where we are directed to areas of (for example) high autocrime. We deal with accidents, and this often involves a lot of follow up paperwork.

Could this follow up paperwork not be done by an office walla type, thus freeing up your more valuable time to do the job, rather than the admin? Perhaps dictate notes into a dictaphone type gizmo which is handed over for typing up and form-filling?

[Dibble]

kevinday said:

Dibble said: [In my area, we have "targetted patrol", where we are directed to areas of (for example) high autocrime. We deal with accidents, and this often involves a lot of follow up paperwork. Could this follow up paperwork not be done by an office walla type, thus freeing up your more valuable time to do the job, rather than the admin? Perhaps dictate notes into a dictaphone type gizmo which is handed over for typing up and form-filling?

Office wallah types can't do the interviews. They can't do the requirement for breath tests and associated forms.... etc etc

[V12Bob]

Nightmare said:

Dibble said: It takes a special sort... I really can't wait to here the end of this tale cptsideways...most amazing thing about the Ford Scorpio has got to be the fact that at some point somewhere in a big, highly expensive office...a load of people paid a lot of money to make important decisions actually said "that's the one - it looks great' - they MUST have done at some point or it would never have arrived. And thats amazing if you ask me!

Nah mate! youve got that wrong, the cheif exec reviewed the proposals from the design dept and said my 2 year old could do better,the designers said let him. Ergo, the Scorpio was designed by a 2 year old.